Adjustable leg invalid walker



June 11, 1968 E. w. REIBER 3,387,617

ADJUSTAB-LE LEG INVALID WALKER Filed Nov. 18. 1966 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. 2

INVENTOR. EDWARD W. REIBER BYW A ATTORNEY.

June 11, 1968 w. REIBER 3,337,617

ADJUSTABLE LEG INVALID WALKER I Filed Nov. 18. 1966 2 Sheets-Shae z '5 v INVENTOR.

EDWARD W. REIBER 3 I ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,387,617 ADJUSTABLE LEG INVALID WALKER Edward W. Reiher, 3540 SW. th St., Miami, Fla. 33135 Filed Nov. 18, 1966, Ser. No. 595,411 9 Claims. (Cl. 135-45) This invention relates to an adjustable leg walker or walking-aid device used by invalids in lieu of crutches and more particularly to a walking-aid device which assists invalids in ascending or'descending a stairway, curb or other obstacles, in addition to walking across fiat surfaces.

Walking-aid devices which are used by invalids are generally referred to as invalid walkers. They are used instead of common crutches and have many advantages thereover. An invalid walker generally comprises a tubular metal frame which closes on three sides of the user, the fourth side being open to allow the user to step into the frame. Such frames usually have four legs that rest on the floor or walking surface, and an upper structure, the top of which is waist high of the user and which provides gripping rails. The invalid can lift his weight from his legs 'by gripping the upper structure along its gripping rails and straightening his arms to raise and support his body weight. He thereafter can swing his legs or move them in a forward or advanced motion with a minimum of resistance from his body weight.

Such devices have been provided in the past but all of said prior art devices have lacked aid to the user when he has found it necessary to climb or descend stairs, curbings or other alterations in the horizontal plane upon which he is walking. Said prior devices have required that the walking-aid device he placed at an angle, with two of the legs resting on adjacent stairs, or a supporting horizontal element on a plane of a different level than the plane of the supporting element of the other two legs, during the invalids climbing or descending action.

Under the procedure above described, the user would encounter difficulty and a lack of stability in climbing and descending stairs and the like.

Various arrangements have been attempted to overcome this problem but all previous designs have possessed disadvantages and none have been successful.

The principal object of the walking-aid device of this invention is to provide an improved adjustable leg-walker which can be readily operated by the invalid user.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved leg-walker device which can readily be used by invalids in climbing and descending stairs, curbs and the like.

A still further object of this invention is to provide an easily controlled walking-aid device for iuvalids which may be particularly useful in ascending or descending a stairway, curb, or the like.

To accomplish these and other objects, the device is provided with two fixed or stationary rear legs and two readily adjustable front legs; said front legs being telescopic in function and readily contractable to the desired length, by means of manual control devices, as will be hereinafter described, in such a manner that gripping bars may be maintained in a horizontally level position when a stair tread, curbing or the like are being negotiated. The telescopic-like front legs may be readily adjusted to a contracted position to provide the proper desirable length so that when the gripping bars are positioned horizontally they are level with a stair tread, curbing, or other similar surface. The difference in length between the rear stationary fixed legs and the front telescopically contractable legs may be readily adjusted by the user so that the difference in length between the rear fixed length stationary legs and the front telescopically contractable legs is substantially equal to the riser of the stair, or curb, to be ascended, or descended, or angularly equal to the incline thereof.

Attempts have been made in the prior art to accommodate an invalid user of an invalid walker who is attempting to ascend or descend a sairway or curbing wherein the rear legs are telescopically adjustable in length and the front legs are fixed and nonadjustable, but that design is not as efficient as this invention and is diflicult for the invalid user to manipulate. There are many inherent disadvantages in the use of a device having the rear pair of legs adjustable and the front pair of legs of fixed length and nonadjustable.

The many outstanding advantages of this invention over the prior art will become apparent from a reading of the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a pictorial view of the invalid walker which includes the improvements of this invention over the prior art and which illustrates the telescopic-like front legs thereof in extruded position as shown by the dotted lines.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed section illustrating the upper forward side of the invalid walker of this invention taken on the lines 2-2 of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a full length view of the invalid walker of this invention, looking forwardly, parts being broken away to illustrate details of the operating mechanism thereof.

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the front telescopic legs illustrating certain details of the operating mechanism in locked position, taken along the line 44 of FIGURE 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the front telescopic legs illustrating certain details of the operating mechanism in locked position, taken along the line 55 of FIGURE 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the front telescopic legs, similar to FIGURE 5, but illustraing the operative parts rotated into unlocked position.

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged cross sectional view of the front telescopic legs taken along the line 7--7 of FIG- URE 2, looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

The purpose of this invention is to provide a walkingaid device which will assist an invalid user to walk across a normal flat surface such as a floor, sidewalk and the like, and which may also be readily adjusted so that when the invalid user ascends or descends a stairway, curbing, or the like, the gripping bars will be substantially horizontal or parallel to the base of the stairway; for example, which the used is ascending or descending, and said gripping bar will remain at the most desired parallel fixed height relative to the users waist.

This is accomplished in this invention by having two easily adjustable telescopic front legs, having novel control elements therefor, and two fixed rear legs, which make up the four legged walker. This improved arrangement enables the invalid user to maintain the walker in the best supporting position at all times. The telescopically adjustable front legs are provided with means for locking them in the desired position at all times.

This invention also provides means for locking the adjustable front legs easily which is advantageous over the prior art in that the user may make the adjustment when looking and moving forwardly which has many obvious advantages over adjusting the length of the rear legs which are behind him. In other words, the user can see what he is doing which obviously contributes to his feeling of security.

In FIGURE 1, which is a pictorial view of the invention, there is shown a tubular metal walking-aid device having two fixed rear legs 11 and 12, and two telescopic-like front legs which are adjustably contractable for length, 14 and 15.

The two adjustable front legs 14 and 15, respectively, have slidable lower sections 14a and a which are each slidably coupled, in the manner of a telescope, to the upper portions of the sections 14 and 15, which comprise the fixed sections of the legs.

A U-shaped lower support bar 29 is suitably fixed to the upper portions 14 and 15, of the telescopically adjustable front legs at the point 25, by bolted bands, welding, or any other desirable connecting means, and to the fixed nonadjustable rear legs 11 and 12 at points 23 and 24, (see FIGURE 1).

The supporting function of the lower U-shaped bar is obvious and it is desirable that it be in a horizontal plane with respect to the 'walkingaid device 20, as illus trated in the drawings.

The two upper fixed portions 14 and 15 of the front telescopically adjustable pair of legs of the walking-aid device 10 comprise tubular members which are fixed by welding bolting or in any other suitable manner, to an upper 'U-shaped tubular support bar having an upper front portion 26 and a pair of side support gripping members 27.

The two fixed rear legs 11 and 12 may be one-piece extensions of the U-frame 10, as shown in FIGURE 1, or may be separate legs, bolted to the upper gripping U- frame 25, or welded, or otherwise fixed thereto.

The operative control mechanism, which is designed to either extend or contract the length of telescopically adjustable front legs.14 and 15, as the user may desire, comprises the following described mechanism.

A vertically extending slot 30, cut in the outer tubular portion of the telescopically adjustable front legs 14 and 15, accommodates a projecting guide member 31, (see FIGURES 2 and 7).

In FIGURE 4 there is illustrated a split, thumb operated control trigger member -41, which is suitably adapted to rotate locking member 43 of right leg 15 in the direction indicated by the arrow. The upper portion 41, of split, thumb operated control 40-41, is connected to thumb operated left control member by means of chain 46, (see FIGURES 2, 3 and 4). A wire, cord, or other suitable flexible pull device may be employed which will transmit the same directional motion to the left control member 45 as that applied to the right control member 43.

A thumb operated control trigger 48, shown in FIG- URES 2 and 4, serves also to actuate left control member 45.

In FIGURES 4 and 5, the front telescopic legs 14 and 15 are illustrated in locked position.

In FIGURE 6, the front telescopic legs are shown in unlocked position.

A series of inward projecting locking members are fixed in any suitable manner to the inner wall of front telescopically adjustable legs 14 and 15, (see FIGURES 3, 5 and 6). Members 50 are adapted to engage stop members 43 and 45, which act as locking stops when r0- tated in the positions illustrated in FIGURES 4 and 5. Slots 60, shown in FIGURES 5 and 6 permit members 50 to bypass stop members 43 and 45 when they are rotated in positions illustrated in FIGURE 6, and thereby permit telescoping of the upper front legs 1415 with the lower portions 14a and 15a thereof, whereby to adjust the length of said front pair of legs.

Spring means 62, see FIGURES 2 and 3, serve as safety latches which act to urge rotatable stop members 43 and 45 toward their locked position to maintain the front legs 14 and 15 at the desired length.

In the use and operation of the invalid walker or walking aid device 111, hereinbefore described, the invalid user steps in to the tubular metal frame, at the rear, between the two spaced apart non-adjustable fixed rear legs 11 and 12. The user then grasps the two horizontaliy extending parallel side gripping members 27, shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, which are side extensions of upper U-shaped horizontally disposed support bar 25.

When the lengthwise telescopically adjustable front legs 14 and 15' are each adjusted to the same length as that of the fixed length rear legs 11 and 12, the user can lift his weight from his legs by straightening his arms to support his body weight, thus allowing his legs to be moved or advanced with a minimum restraint from his body weight as he walks or moves across a flat surface.

When the user is standing in the tubular frame of the invalid walker 10, as described, and wants to ascend or climb stairs, curbs or the like, it will be desirable to contract or shorten the length of the telescopically adjustable front legs as shown by the dotted lines 14a and 15a in FIGURE 1. The user can then move the shortened front legs up on to the plane of the next higher stair tread or step.

The upper portions of front legs 14 and 15, which surround and slidably receive lower portions 14a and 15:: thereof, are thus adjustably coupled together, as previously described and illustrated in the drawings. The user may rotate the locking member 43 of right leg 15 by rotating it in the direction indicated by arrows, see FIGURE 4, through movement of split thumb operated right control 40-41, as shown in FIGURE 4. This action moves chain 46, see FIGURES 2, 3 and 4. Chain 46 thus moves from left to right, see FIGURE 4, and transmits the same directional rotative motion to left control member 45. This split arrangement permits the user to unlock the telescopically adjustable left leg 14 and right leg 15 simultaneously, by merely moving thumb operated control trigger member 40 41.

If the user desires to alter or change the length of the left leg 14 independently from the right leg 15, it may be accomplished by actuating the thumb locking trigger 48, as shown in FIGURES 2, 3 and 4. Thus, the user may adjust or alter the length of front legs 14 and 15, as previously described, to desired equal or unequal lengths. This feature of the invalid walker 11 has many advantages, such as for example, when uneven surfaces are encountered under each leg. Also, where the height or depth of the surface to be walked over is greater or lesser under one leg than the other. In situations where the motion of a crab-like walking movement would be advantageous.

When the user desires to descend or move down a staircase, curb or other uneven surface, he operates the device in a similar manner to that described in ascending except that the adjustable front legs 14 and 15 are extended in length instead of contracted where desired.

The positioning of the adjustable legs in the front part of the invalid walker of this invention permitting the user to see what he is doing and where he is going, has very important advantages over any arrangement heretofor known in the art.

Also, the novel means for actuating the locking control elements to permit separate adjustment of the length of each front leg, independently of each other, also, the novel mechanism for simultaneously adjusting the length of both front legs simultaneously by means of a single control, all contribute to a feeling of security on the part of the user. The novel combination of control and operating elements of this invention provide an invalid-walker which is useful, superior, new and constitutes a substantial improvement in this art.

The invention claimed is:

1. An invalid walking-aid device to be used as an aid for walking on fiat surfaces and ascending and descending Stairways, curbings and the like, comprising a rigid frame having three closed sides one open side, a pair of rear vertical supporting legs of fixed length, defining the open side; a pair of lengthwise adjustable vertical front legs, each of which is composed of two telescopically relatively slidable portions; said pair of front legs being adjustable lengthwise to an extended or contracted position and manually operable locking mechanism adapted to fix the length of said front pair of legs in any one of a variety of optional lengths, a substantially horizontal pair of sidewise disposed gripping members arranged at approximately the waist height of the user; a pair of vertical tubular rear supporting legs of fixed length defining the open side of the frame; a pair of vertical tubular front legs each of which comprises an upper portion and a lower portion slidably telescoped in relation one to the other to permit extendable and contractable overall lengthwise adjustment, manually operable locking means adapted to fix the overall length of said pair of front legs in different lengths; said locking means including a disc shaped element, a radial outwardly extending vertical slot formed therein, a series of inwardly projecting latch members adapted to pass through said radially outwardly extending vertical slots of said disc shaped elements to permit relative slidable movement between the telescopically arranged upper and lower portions of front legs when the radial slot of the disc shaped element is manually arranged in alignment with the inwardly projecting latch members, and to prevent passage of the inwardly projecting latch members when said radial slot of the disc shaped member is manually arranged out of alignment with said inwardly projecting latch members.

2, An invalid walking-aid device as set forth in claim 1, wherein the manually operable locking mechanism adapted to fix the length of the two telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of the lengthwise adjustable pair of front legs comprises a radially slotted disc member attached to the upper portions of each pair of adjustable front legs; a plurality of inwardly projecting latch members are fixed to the lower portions of each pair of adjustable front legs and are in alignment with and adapted to pass through said slots, and manually operable means are provided which permit rotary movement of the both disc members whereby to rotate the radial slots thereof out of alignment with said inwardly projecting slots and prevent passage of said inwardly projecting latch members through the radial slots whereby to lock the upper and lower portions of said front legs and fix the length of said front legs with respect to the rigid frame of the walking-aid device.

3. An invalid Walking-aid device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the locking mechanism which is adapted to fix the length of the telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of the lengthwise adjustable right front leg is operatively connected to the locking mechanism which is adapted to simultaneously fix the length of the telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of lengthwise adjustable left front leg.

4. An invalid walking-aid device as set forth in claim 2 wherein the locking mechanism which is adapted to fix the length of the telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of the lengthwise adjustable right front leg is operatively connected to the locking mechanism which is adapted to simultaneously fix the length of the telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of the lengthwise adjustable left front leg, and wherein said connecting means comprises a flexible chain or cordlike strand member.

5. An invalid Walking-aid device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the locking mechanism which is adapted to fix the length of the telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of the pair of tubular front legs with respect to each other comprises a disc shaped radially slotted element, One rotatably disposed within each of said tubular front legs, inwardly projecting latch members adapted to pass vertically through said radial slots of the discs, and manually controlled means to rotate each of said discs simultaneously to an extent to vertically disalign the radial slot of the disc and the vertical plane of the latch member and rotate the unslotted portion of the disc into blocking position with respect to the latch.

6. An invalid walking-aid device as set forth in claim 5, wherein the locking mechanism is adapted to fix the length of the telescopically relatively slidable upper and lower portions of the pair of tubular lengthwise adjustable upper and lower front leg portions with respect to each other, including spring means adapted to urge the rotatable manually controlled locking means into locked position.

7. An invalid walking-aid device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the manually controlled locking mechanism includes a split thumb operated control trigger member adapted to rotatably operate the disc portion of the locking elements of the right front leg and left front leg independently of each other.

8. An invalid walking-aid device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the manually controlled locking mechanism includes a split thumb operated control trigger member adapted to rotatably operate the disc portion of the locking elements of the right and left front legs simultaneously.

9. An invalid walking-aid device as set forth in claim 2, wherein the manually controlled locking mechanism includes a thumb operated control trigger member adapted to rotatably operate the disc portion of the locking element of the right front leg and an additional and separate thumb operated control trigger member adapted to rotatably operate the disc portion of the locking element of the left front leg.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,796,916 6/1957 Womble 45 3,176,700 4/1965 Drury l3545 DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.

P. M. CAUN, Examiner. 

1. AN INVALID WALKING-AID DEVICE TO BE USED AS AN AID FOR WALKING ON FLAT SURFACES AND ASCENDING AND DESCENDING STAIRWAYS, CURBINGS AND THE LIKE, COMPRISING A RIGID FRAME HAVING THREE CLOSED SIDES AND ONE OPEN SIDE, A PAIR OF REAR VERTICAL SUPPORTING LEGS OF FIXED LENGTH, DEFINING THE OPEN SIDE; A PAIR OF LENGTHWISE ADJUSTABLE VERTICAL FRONT LEGS, EACH OF WHICH IS COMPOSED OF TWO TELESCOPICALLY RELATIVELY SLIDABLE PORTIONS; SAID PAIR OF FRONT LEGS BEING ADJUSTABLE LENGHTWISE TO AN EXTENDED OR CONTRACTED POSITION AND MANUALLY OPERABLE LOCKING MECHANISM ADAPTED TO FIX THE LENGTH OF SAID FRONT PAIR OF LEGS IN ANY ONE OF A VARIETY OF OPTIONAL LENGTHS, A SUBSTANTIALLY HORIZONTAL PAIR OF SIDEWISE DISPOSED GRIPPING MEMBERS ARRANGED AT APPROXIMATELY THE WAIST HEIGHT OF THE USER; A PAIR OF VERTICAL TUBULAR REAR SUPPORTING LEGS OF FIXED LENGTH DEFINING THE OPEN SIDE OF THE FRAME; A PAIR OF VERTICAL TUBULAR FRONT LEGS EACH OF WHICH COMPRISES AN UPPER PORTION AND A LOWER PORTION SLIDABLY TELESCOPED IN RELATION ONE TO THE OTHER TO PERMIT EXTENDABLE AND CONTRACTABLE OVERALL LENGTHWISE ADJUSTMENT, MANUALLY OPERABLE LOCKING MEANS ADAPTED TO FIX THE OVERALL LENGTH OF SAID PAIR OF FRONT LEGS IN DIFFERENT LENGTHS; SAID LOCKING MEANS INCLUDING A DISC SHAPED ELEMENT, A RADIAL OUTWARDLY EXTENDING VERTICAL SLOT FORMED THEREIN, A SERIES OF INWARDLY PROJECTING LATCH MEMBERS ADAPTED TO PASS THROUGH SAID RADIALLY OUTWARDLY EXTENDING VERTICAL SLOTS OF SAID DISC SHAPED ELEMENTS TO PERMIT RELATIVE SLIDABLE MOVEMENT BETWEEN THE TELESCOPICALLY ARRANGED UPPER AND LOWER PORTIONS OF FRONT LEGS WHEN THE RADIAL SLOT OF THE DISC SHAPED ELEMENT IS MANUALLY ARRANGED IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE INWARDLY PROJECTING LATCH MEMBERS, AND TO PREVENT PASSAGE OF THE INWARDLY PROJECTING LATCH MEMBERS WHEN SAID RADIAL SLOT OF THE DISC SHAPED MEMBER IS MANUALLY ARRANGED OUT OF ALIGNMENT WITH SAID INWARDLY PROJECTING LATCH MEMBERS. 